


Danganronpa -1: The First Hopeful Academy of Despair

by CaptainPancakes



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 02:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainPancakes/pseuds/CaptainPancakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despair had to begin somewhere. In the case of Ayako Kawasumi, it just so happened to start in her Highschool Mutual Life of Killing. Despair loads up it's ammunition of secrets, and decides to rain hell on all. (First ever fanfiction - first ever major writing project)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Part I

It was like a dream. Me – an ordinary girl with a boring talent. To get into Hope's Peak Academy was a dream to everyone, and it was happening to me. What special talent did I have that mattered to get into this school? No – that didn't matter. What only mattered was that I was here; ready to take on anything this school had to offer. After all, I am the Super Highschool Level Pianist!

Thinking back to myself, I suppose being a "pianist" is sort of a boring way to get into such a prestigious school. I mean – I probably couldn't count the amount of skilled piano players in the world. Obviously, there are people out there who are just as good as me. Yet here I was – still standing outside the school, proud of myself, feeling good about myself.

Then again, what about the others? What kinds of talents do they have?

Of course, I DID do a little research before I got into this school. Luckily, there are even a couple people I know from my school! But, reading the mental list I printed in my mind, there was a lot more people than normal who I found was attending the school. Nineteen students! Excluding me, that's eighteen other Super Highschoolers, who'd be attending the school with me.

That made me feel a little better, I admit. If there are nineteen kids in the school, it's impossible for all of them to overweigh my talent. It would feel awful to have the most boring skill possible.

Okay – enough talking. I have to get going.

I glanced at my watch – it was already 7:00 AM. The letter I got said school started at 7:30, so… I'm early.

"Damn it," I said to myself. I always hated being early. It always made me feel like a teacher's pet, getting into school before everyone else. I was never the one to actually enjoy school.

I sighed, and prepared to enter the school. Nothing good would have come out of just standing there. I smiled, stepped forward, and opened the doors.

These doors presented themselves with hope. Entering these doors would mean entering a new world – a new world of opportunity for me. What could await me behind these school walls? My mind was buzzing with questions as I stepped into the hallways. What kind of classmates will I have? What kinds of classes will I attend? What kind of hope would be given to me?

Heh… yeah. "Hope." Of course, I didn't know this at first. I remember standing outside the walls of the school, thinking about all the opportunities I would get to follow my passion. I thought I would eat the best food. I thought I would take the best classes.

And I thought I'd meet the best friends, and we'd all live happily within the schools – taking the hope that the promise gave to us.

But, this story wouldn't be the story it was if I weren't wrong. Obviously, something had to happen to make it interesting.

Like, for example, when I stepped into the school…

I blacked out.

(AN: This is my first ever fanfiction and major writing project, and I just found this site and decided that it'd be nice to get more feedback. The story is also going on at fanfiction (dot) net. I'm hoping that there'd actual be some negative reviews as I want some feedback about my writing and if anything is awkward. The only major flaw I'm aware of is that I always kink up my grammar sometimes, and when I proofread I do it rather badly. I try to do it well but I accidentally end up skipping some things. 

Also, because most chapters are up at fanfiction (dot) net I'm able to provide daily updates with this story. So yay!)


	2. Prologue: Part II

…  
…  
It was darkness for me.

“Huh?”

That was all I could mutter. 

I looked around, and I was in what looked like to be the infirmary. Why was I in the infirmary? I thought to myself, confused, with a pounding head. “Damn…”

I began to realize the reality of what was happening right now. I tried to remember the events that just occurred for me as I entered the school. First, I was standing outside the building, thinking about how great my new life would be. Then, as I entered the school, my vision started to blur and I fainted.

I glanced around, and tried to take notice of my surroundings. The infirmary was painted with white walls, and there were three beds lined across the wall with curtains surrounding them. I was in the fourth one, the one farthest from the door.

The ceilings lights were bright, and began to render be braindead. My head was still hurting, and I felt faint as I tried to stand up from the bed. 

I was still in my clothes, and it looked like a teacher brought me here if I didn’t have time to change into a gown. But, oddly, there was no nurse to be seen. The infirmary was relatively small, compared to the one they had at my old school. It was just a wide open space, with three beds, a desk, and a fridge at the far end of the room. 

A… fridge? 

“Perfect,” I said to myself. My throat was deserted from any kinds of fluid – I felt if I didn’t take a drink soon, I’d probably die, or something. “Let’s see here…” I said as I opened the fridge, and what came next was a huge shock.

There were packets of blood in the fridge, labeled and organized by their blood type – A, B, C, the good stuff. But, the hell was blood doing in a fridge? Forgetting that I was expecting a nice cold soda, or something! Why does an infirmary need blood in a school?

Never mind that, I needed to get out. I looked at my watch – 9:00 AM.

What the heck?! 9:00? My classes start at 7:30!

I bolted out the door, forgetting about the events that just transpired. Okay, my start to the school year was weird! I fainted as I entered the school – I guess that’s just normal. I was nervous. But how could I be knocked out for two hours? 

“Jeez… How nervous am I?”

Running around the hallways, it seemed everyone was already in their classes. There was no activity to be seen anywhere. It was just some dimly lit hallways leading to classrooms I know I didn’t have to enter. I was beginning to panic a little; being late on my first day did not seem to look good on my reputation.

“Okay, okay, think…” I must have been desperate to talk to myself. “Okay, there’s an admissions building a little off from the school. I can go there and get my schedule.”

I had no time to waste; I ran straight for the entrance, grabbed the handles of the door, and let the natural light outside shine on me. I knew it would be alright – at this point, I had hope. I had bundles of hope. This light that shone on me seemed like to be the perfect sign, that the rest of my life would be hopeful.

But that was my first lie I told to myself.

Looking around, I was stunned to see what awaited me on the outside. There were chain fences surrounding the campus, with barbed wire running across the top of it. The fences were tall, mighty, and showed signs of no escape. The fact that I felt trapped here like a zoo animal was worse enough, but I realized, as I stared out in the open, that there was something much worse than being trapped in someplace that I thought would give me hope.

This was a different place. This isn’t where I came. Looking around, it looked like a college campus. Why? Why was there a campus? I didn’t come to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere! But, this campus… it was so big. It was like a neighborhood. There were large buildings, dormitories, and there were shops down in the center, and there were other places to visit like a movie theater, and there was even a football stadium that I saw in the distance. But… I was… I didn’t come here.  
First things first, I thought to myself, was to find out what the hell was going on. 

Looking for some answers, some salvation, I suppose you could say I found it eventually. I was looking around the campus for, what felt like an hour, but was probably ten minutes. I decided, it would be a good idea to check the cafeteria. 9:00, seems like a good, snack time, right? I think meeting the other students, that’s what they all thought. 9:00… snack time. I could really use some cookies…

I opened the doors to the cafeteria, and what I saw was my new classmates, looking at me as I opened the door. 

“Huh?! Not everyone came yet?” someone said.

“Don’t blame her,” said another. “We all woke up, didn’t we?”

“Hey, you,” someone else said. “Did you see anyone else around campus?” I shook my head, and counted heads. I only saw… sixteen students. What about the other two? Never mind that… sixteen students?

I remembered… me and three of my other friends were going to attend this school together. Why is there sixteen? I tried to collect my thoughts, but before I could, some dude with a blue button-up shirt and brown hair came up to me.

“Well!” he said with a smile. “I suppose it’s a good enough time than any other to start our introductions!”

I recognized him from my research. His name was...

KOUICHI AKAZAWA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL SNIPER

“Nice to meet you!” He said, holding out his hand. “I’m –“

“Kouichi, right?” I interrupted. “I know…”

“What? How did you know?” he asked. He scratched his head and sighed with content. “I’m supposed to be a contract killer… no one should have heard of me.”

The words, “contract killer,” rung through my head and made me shudder. In front of me was a professional killer. Should I not have known about him? He a contract killer! I’m not supposed to know THAT!

I guess Kouichi could see the fear in my face, because he started to laugh. “It’s okay!” he said. “Well, I guess lots of people know I’m a contract killer now because of that annoying thread online… that’s where you found out who I was, right?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes! Yes, absolutely! I didn’t – like, spy, or something!”

He nodded, then opened his eyes wide and pushed them near my face. “That’s good,” he started. “Cause if you were, I’d have to kill you!”

“WHAAAAAAT?!”

Kouichi laughed some more, and patted me on the head. “No, I couldn’t kill a nice girl! I’d retire before that! I only kill mean, heartless ones!”

I laughed a fake laugh to make nice with Kouichi, and then I started to “analyze” Kouichi. He had brown hair, a blue button-up shirt, and black dress pants, but something was weird about Kouichi. I knew he was a teen, but for a contract killer, I didn’t expect him to look so… skinny.  
“H-hey,” I mumbled. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but… you’re sort of skinnier than I pictured you to be.”

Kouichi nodded and held his chin up. “This would be the proud work of a contract killer who is masking his identity! For a contract killer, being sneaky is everything, and no one in hell would believe that a skinny teenager like me could easily put a bullet in their head with a pistol from a mile away!”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.” I sighed. Damn… being a sniper is way out of my league. 

“Well, I’d love to talk some more, but I think everyone else is waiting to meet you…” as he left and headed towards the kitchen, someone else got up from their seat and walked forward. 

He took out his hands, and we shook. I looked into his face as he looked at the ceiling, like he’d rather be somewhere else rather than talk to me, and I found out he was the Super Highschool Level Sailor.

RIKIYA EMIYA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL SAILOR

“Rikiya,” he said, introducing his name. He took out a beer from his pocket and started to drink.

“Um… Ayako,” I said. “And, aren’t you too young to drink?”

“Yes, probably,” he sighed. “But obviously the law of the outside world doesn’t apply when we’ve been knocked out and sent to the middle of nowhere… No sign of teachers either.”

Rikiya Emiya – while on the outside, he’s muscular, strong, and easy to get along to, he seemed to be a little whinier than I perceived him to be. A professional sailor, he made tons of trips to foreign countries to deliver different products, and he won over 10 sailboat races. Sailboat racing, versus piano playing… his is definitely more interesting.

“Want to try a beer?” he offered, giving out a weak smile. It seemed like he was trying to make friends – there’s that at least. 

“No thanks,” I said. “I’m good.” He nodded, and took out another beer. 

“Drink two a day, and you won’t ever get drunk. Though, I can’t believe I’m wasting my second beer before lunchtime even starts…” He sighed and sat back down. 

Why do these kids have such mechanical ways to greet me? Sitting back down and taking turns… they’re like robots.

Speaking of robots, a strange kid in a lab coat decided to waltz his way to greet me in a strange walk.  
“I. AM A. ROBOT.” he said fiercely. “MUST. KILL. HUMANS.”

“Yeah… you do that,” I said, as I scanned his face for his identity. He was…

AARON TSUUBYAKA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL SCIENTIST

“Yahoo!” he said. “I do a fucking sick robot! Don’t you think so?”

“Well,” I said. “It’s the first time anyone walked up to me and did a robot dance. So, yeah, I guess, comparatively…”

“Yeah, that’s a pretty damn good compliment,” he said, smiling, and giving me a thumbs up. “Man, as a scientist, I can only dream of one day, building a robot to do my every whim, while I work on even bigger things…”

“Bigger things?”

“Heck yeah!” he said, with a southern twang. “Cancer, HIV and AIDS, influenza! You know it, I want to fix it!”

“I’m, pretty sure influenza is already curable. Or at least preventable.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah… the flu isn’t that hard to fight back.”

“W-well… damn.” He sat back down with a glum look, and this cheery girl wearing a white biker’s helmet came up to me.

“Fancy meeting you!” she said. “I’m Megumi Sato!”

MEGUMI SATO  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL DRIVER

Megumi Sato… she’s the famous racecar driver, who broke barriers with age, being only fifteen years old when she started professionally racing. She’s not even legal age yet.

“Wanna take a spin in my car?” she asked enthusiastically. “It’s sorta messy, but it’s got room for two!”

“Well, I would,” I started. “But, we sort of got taken to the middle of nowhere, didn’t we?

“Damn,” she said. “You’re right. I don’t have any space to drive…”  
“Um, never mind that, but do you even have your car?”

“My what?”

“Your car… I don’t think you’d have it with you.”

She looked outside the cafeteria windows, and gave me a light smile.

“Damn,” she said. “I don’t have my car with me, do I?” I nodded. “Oh well! What can you do?” As she hummed away, sitting down with a blissful ignorance, a guy with spiky hair got out of his seat, and walked in front of me.

We took some time exchanging glances, and not really talking, but that wasn’t really my fault. This guy had a painfully odd aura. His influence was really strong, and made me feel uncomfortable. I was at least able to recognize who he was. 

TAISUKE SAIONJI  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL CON ARTIST

“Um… Hi,” I said. As soon as I said that, his first personality took a cliff dive and he unbuttoned his trench coat, and presented me with a deck of cards, and piles of cash.

“Want to play some poker?” he said softly. “That watch on your wrist looks nice.”

I looked at him with a sour face, and decided it was probably best not to interact with a professional con artist that much.

“Well, don’t leave me hanging,” he said even softer. “Am I going to deal a hand, or not?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. 

“Shame, that’s a real nice watch you got there.”

“Y-yeah…”

Silence.

Following that, there were just moments of silence, before Taisuke finally gave up and sat back down. Going to school with a sniper, racecar driver, and con artist was just crazy…

To take the place of Taisuke, a strange tall looking guy came around. He wore sunglasses, a black jacket, over skin. He didn’t bother putting on a shirt under his black jacket, and what was revealed probably wasn’t healthy for my wellbeing. His abs were ripped! This guy was buff! I recognized his face from his profile online, but it didn’t specify what his talent was.

SENJI KIYOMASA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL ???

“Hello,” he said. His voice showed a personality that was rather clichéd. He seemed to be one of those normal quiet guys, with no heavy interaction with others. 

“You’re name is Senji, right?” I asked. 

“Correct,” he replied. “My full name is Senji Kiyomasa. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” I said back. “By the way, I found your profile online, but they never listed your talent.” 

Senji raised an eyebrow. “Why do you wish to know that?”

I shrugged. “It would just be nice to know.”

He shook his head, and lowered his head. “I’m sorry, but I’d rather not reveal my skill just yet. I may in time.”

As he sat back down, I stared at him from afar. Senji… who was he? Why didn’t he want to reveal his talent?

I didn’t have any time to think about this (or anything in general, really), and before I knew it, my other classmate sprung to her feet and pranced over to my side.

KYUOKO KASUGA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL TEXTER

“Hey! Take out your phone!” said Kyuoko.

“What?”

“Huh? Don’t you have your phone?”

Come to think of it, I didn’t check if I had my phone yet. I searched my pockets, and looked around me, but it seems like I didn’t have my phone. That was odd.

“Eh? You don’t have your phone?” asked Kyuoko. “That’s lame…”

“I must have dropped it on the way over here,” I sighed. “That sucks.”

“Well, that’s okay,” she said. “I’m a real fast texter though… I wanted someone to text with since no one would do it with me.” She sighed and decided to wander back to her seat.

Great conversation, I thought to myself. I decided to stop standing and let others introduce themselves to me – my feet were tired of running around all of campus anyways.

I took a seat next to a shy looking girl. Her beret on her head was covering her green hair, and she was clasping a paintbrush very nervously.

“Hey,” I said. “You’re the Super Highschool Level Painter, right?”

“Eh?!” she said, acting as if she was shocked anyone spoke to her. She very suddenly twisted her body to face mine, and greeted me with a bow. “Y-yes! You’re right! I’m the painter!”

MIYU OKUMURA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL PAINTER

“N-nice to meet you!” she said nervously. She had a fake smile on the whole time, as if she was scared to interact with others. 

“I, uh, saw some of your work online,” I said, trying to come up with a conversation.

“O-oh! That’s cool! Uh, did you, like it? Or maybe you didn’t? It’s okay if you didn’t!”

“No, no! Your work is amazing!” 

Miyu looked nice, but she looked so frail, and she was very shy. It’s hard to believe she had any interaction with others.

“Miyu, you don’t need to act all scared,” said the guy in front of us. He had a very delinquent look, with a yellow stripe of hair on the top of his head. He had three earrings – two on his left ear, and the third being a diamond stud on his right. He had the perfect look to be the worst student ever, but yet…

KICHIRO SUGURO  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL MATHEMATICIAN

Yet, he turned out to be a math genius. 

“Hmph, you looking at someone?”

“N-no…”

“Good. I hate being looked at. Miyu, want me to get you a snack?”

“Oh! Yes! Thank you Kichiro!” said Miyu. Her voice had a certain comfort to it, I guess she and Kichiro were friends? “I know what you’re thinking,” said Miyu to me, silently. “But he’s a great student; he just happens, to look like that.”

“No, no!” I protested. “I wasn’t thinking that at all! But, do you two know each other?”

“Yes, we do,” said Miyu. I swear I saw her blush a little, but her smile wasn’t fake this time, and it was a smile of warmth. “He went to school with me, before we got invited to attend here.”

“You two were friends?”

“I, myself, don’t really know,” she said. “What’s it like to have a friend? I don’t know the answer to that. But, I think he sees me as a friend, which is why I’m sort of loyal to him.”

I nodded, and smiled.

“Well, I could be your friend!” I said with a smile.

“WH-what?! D-don’t make fun of me!”

“I’m not! Miyu, you should open up a little more, if you want to make any friends…”

“O-okay, I’m sorry. It’s just, you know, I never really acted socially. I got along with everyone but –“

“Oh save it, let’s just be friends, okay?”

Miyu nodded and smiled. “Th-thanks!”

It felt good to help someone. I always was pretty popular at school. I had lots of friends, everyone wanted to hang out with me – yet I wasn’t as snobby as some of my other peers who’d bully their way to the top. 

As me and Miyu were talking, someone from the other table started to yell. I looked over, and my mouth instantly hit the floor as this girl with a parrot on her shoulder started to rant at us, making even more noise than we were.

“Will you two keep it down?! You’re scaring my parrot!”

SUGURU HIDAKA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL ANIMAL TRAINER

“Jeez! The nerve of some people!”

“You know, you could calm down a little,” said another girl sitting at her table. This girl wore silver rimmed glasses, and was holding a book that looked to be a Bible. Instantly, I knew who this other girl was.

SETSUNA KOIZUMI  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL PRIESTESS

“It won’t do any good at all for you to scream across the room, little girl! Mrs. Teacher should know that the best!”

I looked at my classmate whom Setsuna was referring to. She was probably the Highschool Level Tutor, as she was the one who reacted most to Setsuna’s comment. A little too much, maybe.

“I’m not a teacher!” the girl protested. “I don’t even want to be! I just got invited here because I’m a great tutor! I could preach the testaments better than you!”

“What was that?” said Setsuna, as calm as a flower in a breezy wind. Setsuna acted so exotic, and calm, it wasn’t exactly easy to read her personality.

“You heard me!” continued the other girl. “If I’m a tutor, maybe I can “teach” the Bible better than you!”

“The two never got along since when we got here,” said Miyu. “They scare me a little.”

I looked at the other girl, who was beginning to rage a little at Setsuna. I’m not sure if raging at a priestess is good karma, but whatever floats her boat.

TAKAKO FUJIOKA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL TUTOR

“Jeez!” started Takako again. “You don’t always have to pick up a fight, Setsuna!”

“On the contrary,” she replied. “I was only making a harmless joke, picking up on the stereotype of numerous teachers across the world. You just overreacted and assumed it to be an insult.”

“Why you…” she growled.  
“Would you guys quit fighting?” said another guy. He had on a T-Shirt of the United States, which could only mean one thing. This guy probably was…  
AKIRA YAMAZAKI  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL WAR GENIUS

“Seriously, you’ve been doing it all day,” he sighed. “I don’t want to label it as a war, since then I’d have to remember what the hell you guys have been talking about…”

In my mind I agreed, but I really didn’t want to fight against a priest, so I decided to be a nice little girl and not talk. Looking around the room, there was one table in the corner. Something about it caught me by surprise.

Next to Akira, was a girl whom I knew very well. Everyone probably knew her, but only because she was such a famous idol. “Hey!” I said to Miyu. “Is that?..”

SAYA OMOIRASHA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL ACTRESS

“Yeah, I thought you looked up the thread though?” asked Miyu. “You shouldn’t be surprised to see her.”

“I know,” I said. “But reading about it and actually seeing a celebrity is different! I wonder how she’s like!”

“She’s sort of a diva,” explained Miyu. “She demands things from everybody. I’m not sure I like her.”

I stared at Saya, who was stirring a cup of tea with a spoon. Saya yawned and took a sip of her tea.

“She looks normal.”

As soon as I said that, the most clichéd thing happened, and Saya spit out her tea on the floor, and threw the cup against the wall. 

“This tea tastes like crap! C-R-A-P! I don’t drink piles of junk like THIS!”

“I stand corrected…” I said to myself.

I scanned the cafeteria again for something to look at. There was a yellow camera located next to the clock, which read 9:11 AM. Besides the camera, clock, and window, there wasn’t much else to look at in the cafeteria. What I noticed next though, was a table in the corner of the cafeteria, which managed to surprise me.

Not that the table itself was odd. It was a little dusty, and I could see a few spider webs. That’s just because it hasn’t been used or cleaned yet. What did surprise me, was another student, sitting in the chair, resting his head against a clenched fist. 

That struck me as odd. There were only nineteen students listed on that thread online, but the fact that I met all the other students in the cafeteria, could only mean that this guy was obviously someone who no one knew about, since I knew the others that were attending this school.

“Who’s that?” I asked Miyu, and pointed to the corner where the kid was sitting.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “This guy is sort of weird; he never introduced himself to us.”

He noticed us staring at him, and glared at our direction, like us looking at him was harmful to himself. I could tell he mouthed the words, look away, and he faced the wall again, as if he said nothing. Miyu looked at me, and she could tell that I was a little peeved off.

“Tch! Leave him,” I said. “If he doesn’t want to introduce himself, he doesn’t have too.”

???  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL UNKNOWN IDENTITY

As minutes passed by, we were all getting more restless and irritable by the second. It was obvious nothing was happening – but something should have. We were invited to Hope’s Peak Academy. At least the principal should have appeared.

“Aren’t we all here?” sighed Akira. “What’s going to happen?”

“Is the fact that nothing is happening worrying to you?” asked Kichiro fiercely. “Doesn’t it worry you the slightest that we’ve been taken to this campus in the middle of nowhere? We don’t even know where we are, except that we’re on some sort of college campus…”

“This simply doesn’t do,” sighed Saya. “I wish to be escorted out of school grounds.”

“I would love to drive you out of school!” said Megumi. “But have you seen a car I could use?”

“I only drive the most expensive and luxurious of cars,” sneered Saya. “I wouldn’t dare ride with a simpleton like you.”

“Wow Mrs. Omoirasha!” exclaimed Megumi. “You’re a diva, aren’t you?”

“Loud and proud,” she mumbled back.

“The fact that nothing is happening,” I started, interrupting Saya and Megumi’s “conversation.” “It might be because we’re not all here yet.”

“Huh? What are you taking about?” asked Akira. “Who else is missing?”

“Well, my friends,” I said. “Three guys I know from back at my school were invited to come here with me.”

“How do we even know they’re here?” Miyu asked to me.

“Do you know their phone numbers?” asked Kyouko. “I could try calling them.”

I nodded, and told Kyouko the phone number of one of my friends, since I didn’t know the others off the top of my head. 

“These phones are strange contraptions,” said Setsuna.

As Kyouko called, I could hear voices on the other end of the phone. 

“We’re at the cafeteria,” said Kyouko through her phone. Not soon after the call was placed, did my three friends, the people that comforted me, walked through the room.

“Ayako!” exclaimed Rin.

RIN NANASE  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL BALLET DANCER

“Are you doing okay?” asked Tomakazu, with urgency in his voice. “Are you hurt?”

TOMAKAZU OHTSOKA  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL FOOTBALL PLAYER

“Ha! Did you see that football stadium?” exclaimed Tomakazu.

“They have a football stadium? Wish they had a paintball field…”

NOBURU MOCHIZUKI  
SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL PAINTBALLER

“How ya’ doing kid?” he asked me.

I got up to hug my friends, and as we all got settled down, it was time for business. We needed to figure out where we were, and what we were doing here. 

However, before we could even begin to discuss our situation, a voice rang through the intercom. It was loud enough to wake up the whole world, and as we covered our ears, we finally thought we got the answer we wanted. 

“FINALLY! You guys are all here! That took WAAAAYYYY too long. I was beginning to get a little bored! Jeez! You bastards really know how to take your sweet ass time, don’t you?”  
“Did he just call us… bastards?” asked Tomakazu. 

“Yupperoni! You bet I did! I called you, you bastards!”

“Eek!” screamed Miyu. “He can hear us?!”

“You don’t have to act all scared! That sort of hurts my feelings… sounds like you don’t want to hear my fabulicious voice! It’s just a bunch of microphones hidden beneath the walls! No biggie. We just don’t want you guys to say anything nasty, so we had them installed.”

“Umm, where are we?” I said, asking the question that was on everyone’s mind. “I don’t recall ever coming to this campus."

“Well, well, well! Good question! Why, you’re at the second and secondly, Hope’s Peak Academy!”

“Second academy?” asked Kichiro. “What second academy?”

“Now, now, you all have very good questions. But I’m pretty sure this can ALL wait until we all meet up together! Let’s say, the gymnasium at 1:00 PM! You guys can explore the campus to your heart’s content! Now, let’s make it the best day it can be, you bastards! I’ll see you all at the gym, I look forward to it!”

As the intercom rang to signal the end of the announcement, we all took our hands off our ears and stared at each other. 

“The gymnasium?” I said to myself. “He wants us to meet there, at 1:00?”

“He also said we had to explore the campus,” said the kid in the corner. 

“Are we really going to follow his orders?” I asked.

“I think it’d be best if we listen to this man. We’ve been overpowered and taken to this campus.”

“But, what if, like, that dude on the intercom attacks us?” asked Noburu.

“I have doubts that he’d attack us,” replied the kid. “I don’t think that man has any murderous intent on us right now. Then again, you could always stay here.”  
We all stared at each other, thinking about what we should do. On one hand, we would figure out that this trip to the campus was a little joke, and then we’d all go back happily into where we once came. On another hand, we could be attacked at any corner. Certainly, a man with enough power to knock us all out at once, and then take us to this college campus, could have the power to kill each and every one of us.

“If you guys are worried about death,” started the kid, “then you’re just foolish. The man brought us here for a reason. He’s not just going to kill us for no reason.  
As the kid walked out the doors, we all stared at each other. Why would there be murderous intent? The guy, on the intercom… He said we were at Hope’s Peak Academy. So there wouldn’t be any trouble. We were just, taken to Hope’s Peak Academy.  
…  
Weren’t we?

I walked over to the doors of the cafeteria, rubbed my hands together, and thought to myself. I thought, and thought, and thought about what would happen next. At this point, I was still surged with a little hope left. I hoped that when I went out of this door that everything would go back to normal.  
But when you hope, that doesn’t mean that want you want will happen. I hoped that we wouldn’t be in some sort of ugly mess, and I hope that we would go back to the real academy. I hoped, and hoped, and hoped. But, like two sides of a coin, if someone has hope…  
…then another has despair.

Continued in Part III.

===MONOKUMA THEATRE===  
#1

Monokuma: You know, if twenty kids are put together in one room for the rest of their lives…  
Monokuma: They’ll grow WILD!! Kinky! Loud! Noisy! Annoying! My little bear heart couldn’t bear to live through that!  
Monokuma: That’s why you put them in a BIG college campus. It gives them some growing space.  
Monokuma: Though, I wouldn’t mind to see some of the kids get their kink on, if you know what I mean!  
Monokuma: But we won’t! None of us will! This is a clean society we live in! What are you guys talking about?! You guys are perverts! Each and every one of you!  
Monokuma: Now shoo! Go! Leave me be!

(AN: Hi there! Unfortunately archiveofourown doesn't have such a great formatting system. Or I'm sure they do, it's just that I haven't gotten used it yet... ANYWAYS because of that there are some weird things going on in this chapter, so you might want to read the chapter over at fanfiction (dot) net. And no, I'm not advertising them... the story itself though is easier to read there IMO as my story has a bunch of formatting. Anyways, hope you enjoy)


	3. Prologue: Part III

"Upupupupu! How are you bastards doing?"

The voice rang on the intercom, ringing through our ears with a painful reminder of what we were up against. This strange man who kidnapped us, and took us to this college campus, would only mean ill-will. That's what we all decided for ourselves.

"I hope your investigation is going well! You know, this is so exciting, isn't it? Reminder though, it is 12:45 PM as of right now!"

12:45… This man told us to meet him in the gymnasium at 1:00.

"If I were you, I'd go to the gymnasium right now. I wouldn't want to punish any of you, for something soooo silly."

With that, the intercom rang, signaling the end of another announcement. I sighed, and looked at my watch as the man shut himself up. It was already 12:46.

Before our investigation, we all decided we'd meet up outside the gymnasium and inform each other of our discoveries. It seemed to be appropriate, but, I wasn't looking forward to it. I didn't want to know what horrors lay in front of us. At this point, I began to see reality as it is. There was no hope in this, it was just a nightmare.

But I'd find out about it soon.

Walking to the gymnasium, I noticed Miyu walking alone. She was looking at what seemed to be the entrance to a corner shop.

"Miyu!" I called out. "How's it going?" Miyu looked at me, and beckoned me to come over. It seemed she had something to tell me.

"Look, Ayako," she said as I was walking over. "I think… this was some sort of store for the students that attended here before us." I peered inside the glass door, and took a quick glance at the inside. There were shelves stocked with junk food, and fridges lined up against the wall containing water, energy drinks, and some soda.

"Looks useful," I said to myself, and I tugged at the door. There was unfortunately no dice, however. The door was locked. "Damn," I said under my breath. "It's locked, Miyu."

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know… I was too scared to check."

"It's fine," I said. "Let's just head to the gymnasium and meet with the others." Miyu nodded in agreement, and the two of us walked in silence to the entrance of the gym. I looked ahead, and as the doors opening to the gym came in sight, so did the others.

"Now that Ayako is here," started Akira. "Let's start our discoveries. Now, ALPHA GROUP #1! Share with us your discoveries!"

"I told you not to call us that," Saya sneered. "Even though I am #1, I'd prefer not to be recognized by YOU in such a way."

"Well honey," started Megumi. "We investigated the area around the movie theater."

"It looks up-to-date, at least, since some relatively current movie posters were lined up at the entrance," said Saya.

"But looking further around, we did not seem to find we could go past the movie theater. There was a large chain gate blocking us from the area behind it, and it needs a key," said Setsuna.

"I looked at the dormitories," said Kyouko. "There were lots of plugs in the hallways to charge my phone!"

"Did you see if they worked?" asked Senji. "We should know if we are provided with electricity.

"Actually, I didn't have my charger with me," said Kyouko.

"I think it's safe to say we have electricity," said Rikiya. "The intercom was working, and the lights inside the cafeteria were working as well."

"I checked out the corner shop near the gym…" started Miyu. "I-it was locked, so…"

"Why do we need to know about a corner shop?" Aaron sighed.

"Well, it at least tells us certain buildings are locked, even if we do have access to them," said Rin, defending Miyu.

"That's true…" Aaron murmured.

"Well, I found a cute puppy!" exclaimed Suguru. "I wonder what his name is."

"T-that looks like a Siberian husky!" stammered Rin. "Those things are wild!"

"They're adorable!" snapped Suguru. "Don't insult my little Roger!"

"Roger," looked around in Suguru's arms, and barked at us.

As I looked around the group of people in front of the door, I realized easily that someone was missing. It was that kid, whom was sitting alone in the cafeteria.

"I climbed on top of the main building," Kouichi said. "I scanned the area; it looks like we're trapped here. There are extremely high chain gates surrounding this campus, and they have barbed wire lined up against them."

We all looked disturbed at that news. We were all trapped here. How could we… be trapped? This was just a school, it wasn't a cage… We all looked at each other in silence. There were stares of uncertainty, worry, and worst of all, despair.

But I still carried an ounce of hope, that hope coming from the news we'd receive at 1:00. I looked at my watch again and checked the time. It was 12:57.

"Has anyone seen that other kid from the cafeteria?" I asked.

"You mean that dude who didn't introduce himself to any of us?" asked Tomakazu.

"Tch, the nerve of that guy…" said Noburu.

"I haven't seen him," said Saya. "The likes of him, however, has no right to stare upon me!"

"She is a diva," Takako said, shrugging.

I looked at the time, 12:58. Only two more minutes, but that guy still wasn't here yet. Could something… have happened to him?

As soon as I thought that, a paper was handed to me. I looked at who gave it, and it was the kid from the cafeteria. He looked stern, and grim, but that seemed to be his natural stare.

"What is this?" asked Setsuna, as she was handed a paper.

"It's a map of the school," said the kid. "I drew a map of what we could access."

We all stared at the maps. It looked like we had access to the movie theater, the cafeteria, the main entrance and classrooms, and a park.

"It's not much," the kid sighed. "But if we are forced to stay here, it'll have to do." As quick as he said that, he went into the doors of the gymnasium, to wait for whatever news was awaiting us.

"We should head in too," said Setsuna, calmly, even harder to read.

Senji nodded in agreement and headed towards the building.

"Come on, Roger!" said Suguru, heading into the building.

I gulped, and thought to myself, it'll all be okay. There's nothing to worry about. We're going to live a normal life, outside of these cages we think we're trapped in.

We'll be okay…

We'll be… Okay?

Will we be okay?

As we all gathered together in the gymnasium, we saw on the stage, was a little podium with a logo reading: "Hope's Peak Boarding School."

"Hope's Peak Boarding School?" I said to myself. "So, we've been taken to the boarding school?"

"That helps a bit," sighed Rin in relief. "At least we really aren't in the middle of nowhere."

"It's a little extravagant," said Senji. "But it'll work."

I nodded, and fixed my attention onto the gymnasium stage. It was 1:00 right now, so whoever called us here should have appeared by now. And as soon as my thought came, it looked like the answer I wanted wasn't a good one.

Because what I saw, was a teddy bear, jumping onto the podium, raising his arms, and greeting us. A teddy bear. An alive teddy bear.

"Aloha!" said the teddy bear. "That's how you say hello, in Hawaii!"

"Wh-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" shrieked Tomakazu.

"Is it only me that thinks it's strange?" said Megumi. "Teddy bears don't talk."

Saya's face was flushed with a blue color. "Of course they don't, you idiot! This, this… this toy!"

"Hey!" the bear snapped. "I'm not a toy! I'm Monokuma! Your headmaster, so you'd best show me some respect little girl!"

"Little, girl?!" stammered Saya. "No! I'm the famous actor, Saya Omoirasha, I'm not a little girl!"

"Yeah, yeah," Monokuma sighed. "You're famous and all, but now you're trapped in an abandoned boarding school, doomed to live out the rest of your life here. Isn't that ironic?"

"What?!" I screamed out. "The rest of our life?"

"Oh my gosh," Monokuma angrily yelped. "Let me finish! You keep interrupting me, so I can't explain a damn thing!"

Even with all this commotion, the only one who seemed to be able to remain calm, was that kid who I saw in the cafeteria. Who was this guy?

"Now, I trust you all know each other by now?" swooned Monokuma. "Oho! But I was wrong, wasn't I?" Monokuma pointed his paw at the kid, who was looking at the ceiling, as if nothing that was happening right now affected him in the slightest. "You guys, this guy didn't introduce himself, did he?"

We shook our heads, and Monokuma nodded. "Hmm, that's not really friendly," he said. "A bear should always honor himself and reveal his name to others."

"I'm not a bear," the kid lashed. "Fine, I'll tell everyone."

"You mean, your name?"

"What else?" he sighed. "My name and talent, that is."

"Well, let's spit it out!" Monokuma said. "We're already behind schedule!"

"Sure," he said. "I'm…"

HIDEAKI NANASE

SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL MULTI-TALENT

"Did you say multi-talent?"

"Well, what kinds of talents?!" snapped Monokuma. "Come on! We ain't got all day!

"That's not something I have to say," said Hideaki, "and I won't."

I stared at Hideaki, eyes narrow. Hideaki wasn't listed in the thread I saw online. So, did he come here in secret? Or, did no one know about him? Lastly, Hideaki's last name was strange… Nanase… That was Rin's last name, wasn't it?

"Rin," I said to her. "He has the same last name as you!"

But what I said hasn't even caught onto her. She was staring at Hideaki with wide eyes, and they were beginning to water, as she shed tears.

"Do you know him?" I asked. She nodded her head, but she didn't look like she wanted to talk about it right now. She wasn't smiling, like she was just introduced to a long lost brother. Her face was grim, and filled with sorrow. That made me even more wary about Hideaki. I didn't know anything about him, but already, it seemed like Hideaki meant trouble.

"Alright, alright!" said Monokuma. "Now that we all know each other, lemme explain your situation!"

"First of all," Senji started. "I want to know where we are."

"Well, we're at Hope's Peak Academy!" he said. "Actually, technically, we're at a subsidiary of Hope's Peak Academy."

"A subsidiary?" I asked. "So, this isn't the real deal?"

"No, the real deal would've been too tough for you guys!" Monokuma said. "Ha! No, I'm lying. It's because I couldn't get this whole thing to work!"

"What do you mean?" Hideaki asked. "Why did you take us here?"

"Because!" Monokuma snapped. "I was getting to that! No need to be in such a hurry! I took you here for an academic coliseum! That's all!" As soon as he said that, Monokuma covered his mouth with his paws. "Oops! I was supposed to make that all dramatic! You teens seriously tire me out…"

"Academic coliseum?" Hideaki said grimly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, first off, let me tell you that you're all trapped in here for the rest of your life," Monokuma said.

"What?!" Miyu gasped. "That's not true!"

"Oh but it is, monsieur painter!" Monokuma said. "You are all trapped here for the rest of your lives! But here's the kicker, you guys! You can definitely get out somehow!"

"How?" I asked. "What do you expect us to do?"

"Simple," Monokuma said. "Just kill each other!"

As soon as Monokuma said that, we all exchanged nervous glances. No, nervous was putting it lightly. Our faces were filled with fear; this bear expects us to kill each other.

"Why would we do that?" I asked softly.

"Because you're trapped here otherwise," Monokuma said. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to be stuck here for the rest of your lives."

"Of course we don't!" said Rin. "But we don't want to kill each other either!"

"Sure, sure," said Monokuma. "You twenty aren't even the real deal."

"What do you mean?" asked Hideaki. "What do you mean by, the 'real deal?'"

"I mean, well, you'll find out soon enough," said Monokuma. "For now, you can either live a peaceful, happy life with each other here in the academy. OR, you can instead kill someone, and get out! But don't be naïve. You'd better do it in secret."

"Secret?"

"Yes! In secret!" Monokuma replied. "You don't want anyone to find out about your murder! So that's why we're going to hold a class trial! A trial of the century! To find out, who killed blankity blank!"

"A class trial?" asked Rin.

"Yup! We're all going to find out who did it!"

"But, uh, Mr. Monokuma sir?" asked Kyouko nervously. "Shouldn't you have taken our phones? I mean, like, don't all kidnappers do that?"

"Well, you see, I didn't finish my identification," said Monokuma. "I'm working on these cool things that can be used to identify you, isn't that cool? What's a good name?"

"ElectroIDs!" said Aaron. "Get my wordplay?"

"You don't have to help him…" said Tomakazu weakly.

"I like that name Aaron! You're on my cool list!" replied Monokuma. "Anyways, I probably should've taken your phones, but since you can't even call anyone other than the people here, I decided it's fine. We need a way to show you the class rules anyways, and being able to call each other can make much more complicated murders."

I looked at my pockets again to check for my phone. I couldn't find it, yet again.

"Monokuma," I said. "I don't have my phone. Do you know about it?"

"Yes I do," he said, "And in fact, you were very clumsy!" He took out my phone from behind his back, and tossed it at me. I checked it, and turned it on. It definitely was my phone. "Don't lose it again," Monokuma snapped. "I can't keep finding it for you, ya know?"

We all glared at the teddy bear, as he began to spin around in a little dance. This bear, expects us to kill each other? How could we?

"By the way you guys," started Monokuma. "You can find your rooms in the dormitory near here. You each get your own room! Isn't that cool?"

"No! It's not!" I snapped.

"And with that, enjoy your mutual high school life of killings!" he said. "If you need me, don't be afraid to call! I can help with plumbing, replace your bedsheets, or even help you come up with ways to kill!"

"What?"

"Ha! Just kidding," Monokuma laughed. "Now, enjoy the rest of your lives, you guys!" With that, Monokuma jumped behind the podium, and disappeared.

We all looked at each other with fearful faces. Despair was spreading across the room like a foul odor. We could all smell it. This wasn't a good atmosphere, I decided. I needed to say something.

"Is anyone honestly going to kill each other?" I said. "I mean, come on you guys! This bear expects us to kill each other!"

"Y-yeah…" Miyu continued. "We're not actually gonna kill each other…"

Everyone began to nod. "Well, the best thing to do now," said Kouichi, "is to find a way to get out of this place."

We all stared at each other again, but this time, our expressions were different. It just goes to show, a few words of encouragement can light up a whole room. I mean, especially when you're talking about such a ridiculous situation such as death. No one was going to kill each other! No one in the right mind would!

So we went out of this gym with a little hope. Hope that we would be able to leave this academic coliseum. We'd be able to escape from it…

Together.

End of Prologue

===MONOKUMA THEATRE===

#2

Monokuma: My name is Monokuma.

Monokuma: Bill's name is Bill.

Monokuma: Frank's name is Frank.

Monokuma: We all got names given to use by our parents.

Monokuma: But who gave me a weird ass name like Monokuma?


	4. Chapter 1: (n)everyday life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's official. The start of the Highschool Life of Mutual Killings.

CHAPTER ONE

(o)history is basically just blood & war

(n)everyday life

It's been two weeks, since our encounter with Monokuma. It seemed like whatever he was saying, he wasn't lying to us. It's been a whole two weeks, and yet, no sign of help was coming. No sign of anything. I don't know how Monokuma is able to do all this, but one thing is clear. It really did seem like we would spend our lives here.

I can't think like that, though. I have to keep hoping, that somehow, someway, help would come our way. I had a dream last night. I was with my family, it was Christmas, and we were all in the dining room, eating a turkey. It was delicious… we were all having fun. That was true life. I want to go back into that life. I don't want to stay here.

But, I sure as hell won't kill anybody! I know no one else would, either.

*DING DONG! DING DONG!*

"Good morning, you guys! It is now 7:00 AM! Rise and shiiine! Let's make today the best day it can be!"

Monokuma's voice ran through me as a painful reminder of what was awaiting us.

"Oh, and by the way you guys, let's all meet in the gymnasium today again! I can't wait to see your faces – it's been so long!"

And with that, Monokuma ended the announcement. He was calling us like we were his sheep, and it totally sucked. I don't want to listen to this bear… whoever is controlling him, I don't want to listen to him. But there was no choice.

There was, no more hope.

"Raise your hands, up above your head!" said Monokuma while doing yoga. "Now, clasp your hands together, and reach for the stars!"

"You're right Monokuma!" said Megumi, doing the stretches. "Oh wow, this feels great!"

"Finally!" Monokuma swooned. "Someone who gets me! Everyone keeps saying, you're a bear! You can't do yoga!"

"Well, how rude of those people!" said Megumi, crossing her arms.

"Enough of this," said Hideaki. "Why did you call us here, Monokuma?"

"What do you mean? Why aren't you doing this yoga?"

"You didn't call us here to do yoga, did you?"

"Huh? You mean you're not here to do any yoga?"

"No."

"Aww, man… That stinks," started Monokuma, "but you know what? It's your loss! I love stretching and putting my mind at ease! I mean, you guys could really use some chill pills! You all look so restless!"

"C'mon you guys!" said Megumi. "Let's all stretch!"

Ignoring Megumi and her strange idiocy, I took out my phone modified by Monokuma and opened up the school rules. This seemed like a good time to read over them, while Monokuma was distracted with yoga.

List of School Rules

You may not sleep outside of your dormitories. This will count as breaking the rules and result in a punishment.

The time between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM will be known as "nighttime." During nighttime, some areas are off-limits and water will be shut off.

You may explore the school and campus on your own will. No limitations will be placed on this account.

To escape the campus, one must kill another without having their crime betrayed.

More rules may be added if deemed necessary.

I raised my hand as if I were talking to a teacher, and called for Monokuma's attention. "Um, Monokuma?"

"Hmm? What is it Ayako? Do you want to know how tall I am?"

"Uh, no, not really," I said, "but I have a question about the rules.

"Oho! That's cool, which one?"

"I have a question as well, while we're on the subject," said Senji. "Ayako, you go first." I nodded, and turned to Monokuma.

"Um, it says in the first rule, the rules will result in a punishment… What do you mean by punishment?"

"Hmm, it's not obvious?" asked Monokuma. "Death! Slice and dice! Hack and slash! I'll spear through you like I skew the middles of marshmallows!"

"Wh-what?!"

"Death?!" shrieked Miyu. "You can't be serious!"

"H-he's just lying, Miyu," said Rin. "He's kidding!"

"You wanna test me, kid?" threatened Monokuma. "I could kill you quicker than you wipe your ass of your crap you ate last night!" Rin gulped, and looked at the floor, not knowing how to respond.

"Senji, what's your question?" asked Monokuma. "Let's try to make this one more cheerful!"

"Question number four," said Senji. "When it says to not have our crime betrayed by other students…"

"I thought we already discussed this," Monokuma sighed. "You cannot let the other kids find out about your murder! Then we're going to hold a class trial!"

"What are these class trials?" asked Hideaki.

"Well, you'll find out later," said Monokuma. "It's pretty cool!"

"You still didn't answer my question," replied Hideaki. "I asked why you brought us all here together. I know it wasn't just for yoga."

"Fine!" said Monokuma. "Since you are so pushy, I'll just come right out and tell you! You guys suck!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah!" Monokuma started. "You heard me! You guys are totally boring! When are one of you going to kill someone?!"

"We aren't going to kill anyone!" I screamed.

"Well, duh, bitch!" snapped Monokuma. "It's because you all have no reason to!"

A reason? What did Monokuma mean by that?

"Are you talking about a motive?" grumbled Hideaki. "How you could have possibly provided a motive for us?"

"Hmm, to find that out, I think you'll all want to go to the movie theater at 5:00 tonight," said Monokuma. "A pretty cool movie is out! I've made popcorn and everything!" Monokuma laughed his evil laugh, and finished off saying, "see you tonight!" With that, Monokuma walked behind the curtain and disappeared.

"The movie theater at 7:00," said Kichiro, "is where we'll find our motives?"

"It looks like it," Hideaki said, replying to Kichiro's comment. "This doesn't sound like it'll be good."

"But, no matter what happens," Miyu said.

"No one would kill each other, right?" asked Rin.

In my mind, I agreed with all of them. I thought that no one would kill each other. I mean, who would? That's ridiculous. But, was I wrong again?

It was 7:00.

We were all gathered on the outside of the movie theater. The posters were all taken down and replaced with stranger ones, that read "Monokuma's Super Epic Awesome Incentive Movie."

"What kind of name is that?" smirked Saya. "This will be an abomination of a film!"

"Hey! It's not a movie," snapped Tomakazu.

Saya sighed and walked into the movie theater with ease, as if she had nothing to worry about at all. Hideaki followed, beckoning for everyone else to follow. As the students walked in and piled into the movie theater quickly, it was only I who remained.

"It's time to face reality," I said to myself, as I walked into the movie theater.

Inside the movie theater, the intercom went on, and Monokuma's voice emanated through the walls.

"Um, you guys?" he started. "We're having some technical issues right now… so please mingle in the lobby and come in at 7:20 instead!"

Technical issues? I sighed. I had to wait even longer to find out the truth. While everyone started to grumble and sit down in the lobby, it was only Hideaki who was acted strangely.

"Something wrong, Hideaki?" I asked.

"Technical issues in a movie theater wouldn't take twenty minutes," he said. "Something is going up. It's something darker than technical issues."

I looked at him oddly. While a twenty minute interval is a rather long time frame, it isn't anything strange… The film could have ripped, or the movie screen could have been shot, or something.

"You're overthinking it," I said to Hideaki. "Just sit down."

"I don't need to sit," he said. "I don't deserve to sit."

I stared at him, and thought about what he said. He didn't deserve to sit? Hideaki didn't seem social, but it sounds like he was being a lapdog.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You don't… deserve to sit? What are you talking about?" I started to laugh a light laugh and try to get Hideaki into a better mood, but he only stared at me with open eyes, dark and mysterious.

"It's okay, Ayako," he said. "You don't need to know about me." With that, Hideaki walked into the lobby and leaned against a wall, closing his eyes. I could only think about what happened in Hideaki's life to make him like this. First, in the cafeteria, he avoided all contact. Second, during our investigation of the school, he avoids contact with everybody and even manages to draw a map. Now, he's telling me he didn't deserve to sit. It sounded like the word so of a servant to a king.

As I sat down, thinking about Hideaki, twenty minutes passed as fast as I could think about them, and we were all called into the movie theater by Monokuma. Monokuma got in front of the movie theater screen, and started a speech.

"Um, this is a really big moment for me," said Monokuma, "because I've worked so hard to work on this film! All the actors portrayed here gave their lives for you guys! We gave you an amazing movie, and I appreciate you all coming down to support us!" Monokuma began to make a crying noise, and hopped up the steps and took a seat next to me. I closed my eyes and scooted away from Monokuma, and he rested his head against his paw. "Start the movie!"

As he said that, the screen started to flicker. On and on, it was blinking like a strobe light, shining in our faces and blinding our eyes. As we stared at the blinding screen, pictures began to form across the screen, and what we saw was shocking. A child was running towards the camera; his face was bloodied and he looked to be running away from someone.

"There seems to be a problem with young Billy," Monokuma's voice said as it came up across the screen. "I wonder what it could be?"

The screen started to static, and after a few seconds, the screen became visible again, and out came a mountain of bodies that was piled in front of the real Hope's Peak Academy.

"Could it have something to do with this?" asked Monokuma. "These bodies are what's happening on the outside as this movie is playing!"

The screen turned to static yet again, and I looked around the theater in horror. You could see the horror on the faces of the others, and as they stared at the screen, I noticed Hideaki. He was reacting almost strangely normal, as if he saw all this before.

"These horrible images," Monokuma's voice played as the screen continued to static, "are a part of something horrible going on right now in the town of Hope's Peak. What if I told you it could happen to the rest of the world?"

I stared at the screen, my eyes opening wide at what Monokuma's voice just said. What if he told us it could happen to the rest of this world?

"And that's why you need to get out! To protect your families, yo! To stop this crisis! But you can only do that…"

"AFTER GRADUATION!"

The screen started to turn black, and the words, "Graduate to Find Out," came up in bright flashing lights. As the words faded, the curtain closed concealing the movie screen, and death started to close up on him.

Monokuma got up from his seat, and went in front of the curtains once again, and started to speak.

"OMG! LOL! Best comedy ever!" said Monokuma. "I give it five stars! Academy Award! Golden Globe!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" shrieked Rin. "A comedy?!"

"Damn straight, sister!" exclaimed Monokuma. "My, my! It really was such a hassle to put that production together!"

We all stared at Monokuma in silence, while he was spinning in a circle and eating a pot of honey. As we stared at him, we all were subjected to the fear spreading in the room. I couldn't believe what I saw on that screen. It was impossible – to think that the town we were supposed to attend school at would be destroyed like that.

"You," I started, "you expect us to believe that?"

"Hmm?" Monokuma asked. "Believe what? That Hope's Peak has ended by now?"

"She's right!" Noburu said. "What just happened right now is impossible!"

"Tch! Whatever," said Monokuma back to us. "You can think whatever the hell you want. But that was your incentive, you guys. So if you really want to know what's going to happen, you should just kill someone!" Leaving us with those ominous words, Monokuma headed towards the exit, and waved to us as he left and disappeared in thin air.

"Hideaki!" I said, calling out for him as we left the movie theater.

Our discussion before was all nearly unanimous. We all decided that whatever was happening to the outside world was stupid, and the video was forged by Monokuma. But, of course, it was Hideaki who took this threat seriously.

"Hideaki!" I said. "Wait up!" Hideaki looked back at me, and with no expression at all, he turned to face me.

"What is it?" he asked calmly.

"Do you; really think Monokuma was being serious?" I asked.

"He trapped us in an abandoned boarding school," he said. "I'm not, not going to take this seriously."

"I mean, that's a good point, but what just happened, that was a forgery! Monokuma did that too –"

"Save your breath," he snapped. "I'm not saying it wasn't faked or forged. It just looked too real. And what this madman did to us gives me a sinking feeling at the bottom of my stomach."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Ayako. This man was able to single handedly trap nineteen students without any trouble at all. This sinking feeling is reality. What's happening outside, is something we don't know about. But you are all brushing it off like it's nothing." Hideaki sighed and put his hands into his pockets. He walked off into the distance, and said something to me while leaving. "If you're going to ignore Monokuma's warning, you'd best be careful."

And with that, Hideaki departed.

*Ding dong! Ding dong!*

"Excuse me? May I have your attention please?" said Monokuma over the intercom. "The time right now is 10:00 PM. Nighttime is now in effect. The cafeteria is now off-limits, and water will be shut down. With that, I wish you good night. Sweet dreams…"

"A movie!" exclaimed Megumi. "The perfect place to mingle and get to know each other!"

"Uh, I'm not sure I'd want to go back into the movie theater after what happened last time," said Aaron. "How about, like, a barbecue, or something?"

"To hold a barbecue, you need a grill," sighed Rikiya. "Honestly… for a scientist, you should've known that."

"I'm just a scientist," said Aaron defensively. "I'm not an A+ student, or anything…"

"Either way, a movie sounds like a fine idea," Saya said, swooning. "We could watch my new movie, 'Hearts of the Forest!'"

"What kind of name is that?" Tomakazu said, sighing. "If we all want to get to know each other, we should just hold a party."

"Well, I vote movie," Saya said. "I have an idea! Let's all have a majority vote. Who says movie, or party?"

A movie, would be nice, to still stay in touch with the modern pop culture. Plus, it wouldn't be a bad time to get to talk with each other. Then again, going to a party, wouldn't be so bad either.

"Whatever it is," Hideaki said, "you can leave me out of it."

"Tch, of course," Kichiro said. "We wouldn't want some anti-social freak." Hideaki sighed at this comment, and turned to face Kichiro. His red eyes seemed to be turning darker, like a deep blood red that only meant danger.

"Want to say that again, to the Super Highschool Level Fighter?" he asked. "I don't think you'd want to fight me." Kichiro looked at him with fright, as if he felt really threatened. For his small appearance, Hideaki was really intimidating.

"By the way," started Takako, "what are your other talents?"

"I don't need to tell you," Hideaki said, "and I'd prefer not to."

"What?!" backlashed Takako.

"Don't get me wrong, it isn't because I hate you guys," Hideaki said, "but some of those talents hold dark secrets for me. I'd rather not reveal them."

"Well, let's back away from that for now," Senji said. "We were discussing the possibility of a get together. We all haven't voted yet."

"Right! Everyone close your eyes!" commanded Saya. "If you vote for a movie, raise your hand!"

Though the movie theater held some dark memories, I thought it was important to stay up to date with what was happening in the real world, so I raised my hand for that. It seemed like some of the others thought of the same thing, since it turned out that movies won by a close vote of 10-9.

"The tenth vote was mine," said Saya dominantly.

"W-wait, that's not fair!" whined Aaron. "Then –"

"You fucking dumbass!" said Saya angrily. "Don't talk to me like that! I'm an actress you see? You're a wannabe scientist piece of trash! We needed a freaking tie breaker, so I was that tie breaker! Kapeesh?!" Aaron kneeled down on the floor, palms together, and rapidly nodded his head. We all stared at Saya with estranged eyes. She really was a huge diva.

"There we go!" said Saya cheerfully. "I'm sorry for that disturbing display everyone!"

As Saya began laughing, we heard a bunch of chuckles coming from behind her. The voice was childish, and the laugh sounded similar to…

"What's up everyone?" asked Monokuma, as he climbed on top of Saya's shoulders.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Saya screamed and through Monokuma in the air, and swatted him. "Don't touch me, you filth!"

"Ouch…" Monokuma groaned. "That really hurt… I knew I forgot a rule."

"A rule?" I asked. "What rule?"

"Well, thanks to Saya, I remembered a rule I intended on adding but forgot to later!" Monokuma exclaimed. He took out a cookie, and started talking again. "You see, in most normal schools, one wouldn't hit the headmaster."

"This isn't exactly a normal school," sighed Suguru. "Isn't that right, Roger?"

Bark!

"By the way," Monokuma asked. "Where did you find that dog?"

"Oh? He was already here," said Suguru. "On the first day, I was walking to the gym and I saw Roger over here."

"Oh, whatever," Monokuma said, cutting Suguru off. "The dog can stay, he isn't doing anything. By the way, wouldn't it be cute to give him a title? Yeah, let's do that! From now on, Roger is…"

ROGER

SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL PET

"Isn't that cute?" asked Monokuma.

"Enough," Hideaki interrupted. "Why did you come here again?"

"No threatening reason, I assure you," Monokuma said. "I overheard you guys talking about a movie, so

I was just wondering what movie you guys wanted to watch!"

"What movies may we watch?" said Setsuna. "A religious one?"

"No, no, I don't have any religious movies," said Monokuma. "Murderers like me don't really believe in religion anyways."

"Then what movies?" Miyu asked, softly.

"I have a nice little kids movie for you guys to watch!" Monokuma said. "You can either watch Shrek, or Brother Bear!" Almost immediately, everyone called out Shrek, ignoring the fact that Monokuma obviously wanted to watch Brother Bear.

"Aww… you guys are no fun," Monokuma sighed. "Well, you can come by and watch Shrek at 6:00 PM tonight… Bye then…" With that, Monokuma vanished.

"Woohoo!" Megumi exclaimed. "I love Shrek! Though I also wouldn't have minded Speed Racer."

"The nerve of that bear," growled Saya. "Not offering to show any of my movies. What the hell is wrong with that bear?"

"That's your problem with this?" sighed Akira. "Oh, whatever."

I sighed too, but not because of annoyance towards Saya. It was a sigh of relief. Even if Monokuma tried to get us to kill each other, we all decided we'd watch this movie together. It was a blind pact, us saying that we wouldn't kill each other, but instead, we'd all be friends.

So I was happy.

I went into my dormitory and started to jump on my bed.

"Maybe…" I said. "Maybe life here won't be so bad." It was obvious my optimism was kicking in, because it was clear that life here would be pretty bland. "We've got movies and a huge campus to live in…" I smiled a little, and then took a glance at my watch. It was only 4:00, so there was two hours until the movie started. "Maybe I'll get some dinner," I said to myself, and I hopped out of bed and headed to the cafeteria.

When I got there, I saw Hideaki eating a cake on the cafeteria table alone. I took a glance at his face, and it was a solemn face. A very sad and grim face. And as I walked past him, I thought I heard something along the lines of a teardrop. As I got my dinner, I felt bad for Hideaki. It was clear something awful happened to him in the past, and I thought Hideaki needed someone.

"Hey, Hideaki," I said, smiling. I took a seat in front of him, as he looked up from his cake.

"Oh," he said. "Hey, Ayako." He didn't offer a smile or anything, but his voice wasn't fierce like it used to be. It was vulnerable, and weak. "What are you –"

"I'm just having some early dinner," I said. "You shouldn't eat cake before dinner though," I said sighing. "It'll totally ruin your appetite!"

"I could never stop eating sweets," he said. "It'll be like trying to stop a bird from flying." Hideaki took another bite of his cake, and sighed.

"I'm sorry, if I acted a little, brash," he said. "I'm not good with people."

"No," I responded. "Don't apologize. It's clear something happened." Hideaki nodded, and looked out the window, resting his chin against clasped hands. His hands and chin were on top of the chair, and for once, Hideaki looked finally to be at peace.

"It's just," he started, "it's easier that way for me."

"Being alone?"

Hideaki nodded.

"It was always like that for me," he said. "I think my childhood got spoiled so much, I forgot how to feel anything." Hideaki looked at the floor, and yawned. I looked at him with sympathy. I wanted to know what happened to Hideaki; not to be a gossip girl, but I genuinely thought he needed some help.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I don't mean to bore you with my personal thoughts."

I shook my head and spoke. "It's okay. I just feel a little bad for you."

Hideaki blew some loose hair out of his face, and responded. "You shouldn't. I'm okay. I'm going to be fine." Hideaki turned around, and ate the last bite of his cake. He got up, and took the plate in the kitchen, apparently ending our conversation.

I wondered for the next few minutes, what could've possibly happened to Hideaki as a child. He said it himself, that his childhood was spoiled. It was… depressing.

As he walked out of the cafeteria, he turned to me, and with a small grin, he said, "enjoy the movie." He left the cafeteria, leaving me and my dinner alone. I stared at the doorway, watching Hideaki leave, and I sighed once more, and threw the rest of my dinner away.

Maybe she'll know, I thought to myself.

6:00 came fast after that. I left the cafeteria after finishing eating, and I headed to the park and took a small walk. Tomakazu and Noburu were there, and the three of us walked together, and talked. We talked about what we missed most about the outside world, and we talked about how we were all going to get out together, us three and Rin.

After that, it was 5:45, so our trio headed to the movie theater, where we saw Rin waiting. She smiled at us and held a peace sign, and the four of us headed into the theater.

As everyone started to pile in, I scanned who was here. Like I thought, everyone was here except Hideaki. I sighed, and faced Rin.

"Rin," I started. "You said you knew Hideaki, right?" Rin gasped, and looked at me with a serious expression. She then giggled a little, and brushed it off.

"What're you talking about now?" asked Rin. "Yeah, I know him, but he's not really my favorite person in the whole world."

"What was he to you?" I asked.

"He was my stepbrother," Rin said. "Our parents remarried in the third grade, and we were siblings since then. We loved each other, we really did. But as the years went by, it seemed like Hideaki and I were drifting apart."

"What was happening to him? I talked with him today in the cafeteria, and he said his childhood was spoiled. It sounded like, some sort of crisis happened to him."

"I'm not saying I blame him," Rin said. "His mother was killed in a car crash he was in, and his father soon didn't talk to him at all, until he remarried. Then again, he was always bullied as a child, and I remember seeing him attempt suicide."

"Suicide?!"

"I didn't get it," Rin said. "He had me, and I tried to get him friends. He was so talented in lots of things; it didn't make sense for him to be bullied. But he didn't talk to anyone. I think the death of his mom caused him to shut people out."

I stared at Rin with a sad face. I pictured Hideaki again. He looked like a sweet boy at first glance. He seemed like he would be outgoing, friendly, and popular. But I had no idea what happened to him in the past.

"Hey, Rin," I said, as Shrek began to play. "After we get out of here, let's make Hideaki our friend." We exchanged glances, and we both smiled.

"Yeah!" Rin said. "Let's make him our friend!"

As the movie began to play, we were all laughing at the adult innuendo hidden in a kid's movie. We were talking during the boring parts, and having a really good time. It seemed like everything was going perfectly… Everything would go perfectly. I knew it would.

As the movie finished, we exited into the lobby and talked some more. But then, I noticed something weird.

Missing from the group of people in front of me, was Akira.

"You guys?" I asked. "Where's Akira?"

"Come to think of it," Aaron started, "Akira said he would go to the bathroom. I wonder what happened to him."

As the seventeen of us in the lobby began to look around the room, we were all shocked to see Hideaki exit the men's bathroom, and look at us.

"You guys might want to see something."

Hideaki's face was a frown. I remembered his faces; he would be grim, his normal face. He would smile at times when he wanted to comfort others, like me. But this frown was a frown I didn't see before. It was a new emotion that Hideaki showed us.

I realized what Hideaki meant, by "something." I rushed out of my seat, looked into the bathroom, and to my horror…

I saw Akira sitting on the toilet in a bathroom stall.

Except, he was dead.

Continued in Chapter 1: Investigation.

===MONOKUMA THEATRE===

#3

Monokuma: Teens these days are mostly sort of stupid. I'm not insulting you particularly, I'm sure you're smart.

Monokuma: But it pisses me off when they act so stupidly! I mean, who is THAT stupid?

Monokuma: Like, for example: "I won't do drugs, mommy! People who do drugs are bad!"

Monokuma: And then, they do drugs! What the hell?!

Monokuma: Though, doing drugs isn't exactly in the same league as killing.


	5. Chapter 1: Investigation

Monokuma: Yo, yo, yo! It's the Monokuma recap board!

Monokuma: Remember, last time, when these bastards said they wouldn't kill anyone? I mean, who the hell thought of that? Ayako?  
Monokuma: Ironic isn't it? Cause Ayako was the one who found our first victim DEAD! Ahaha! Hilarious!

Monokuma: Then again, Akira didn't really talk much, so you guys must not really give a crap about who the victim was. I hope we can swoon you guys next murder and kill off a character you guys actually care about! 3

Monokuma: But then again, the killer this time! Woohoo! Upupupu!

Monokuma: Enjoy your dish of despair!

Death… it hit me in the jaw with the strength of a roundhouse kick. Death is such a delicate thing, but be that it may, it came so easily this time around. I couldn't believe how fast it came… I'd expect this to be a yearly thing, maybe, if it were to happen…

Did Monokuma's incentive really work on someone? Thinking back, everyone was scared at first of Monokuma's threat. But after that, we all agreed that it was a fake forgery.

Who could have killed Akira?

After my scream, everyone began to pile into the bathroom. We all didn't know what to say. It was Akira. One of our friends was sitting in the bathroom stall, dead.

"Wh-wh-WHAT THE HELL?" screamed Aaron.

"It appears like a death happened," Taisuke said calmly. "Now is a good time to do some grave robbing."

"The hell are you talking about?" said Kichiro through clenched teeth. "How can you think about robbing a dead body? The hell is wrong with you?!"

"I'm a con artist," Taisuke said. "I don't exactly have feelings."

*Ding, ding, ding, dong!*

"Attention, you guys! A corpse has been found! A class trial will begin shortly, so please commence your investigation!"

"Class trial?!" screamed Takako. "What the hell?!"

"It appears like… Monokuma means business," gulped Saya.

"Yes I do, sister!"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" screamed Takako, even louder.

I stared at Monokuma, as he crept around Saya's body. "Yo!"

I ran towards Monokuma, but I was stopped by Hideaki. "It's against the rules," Hideaki said. "You can't be punished now."

Tears were streaming down my face as I stared at Monokuma. "You monster!" I screamed. "You killed Akira!"

"The fuck are you talking about?" asked Monokuma. "I didn't do shit. I just watched it happen, gave it a little nudge. I didn't do anything, it was one of you guys who were curious about the outside world, you know!"

"You always come here for a purpose," said Hideaki, with a stern intimidation in his voice. "Why did you come here this time?"

"Well, you know, in court cases, they always have an autopsy report! So this is sorta like my autopsy report for you guys, since it would be unfair otherwise!" Monokuma said. "So here you go!"

:::===/NEW AMMO))

1: Monokuma File #1: Reads the following: Victim: Akira Yamazaki | Time of Death: 7:00 PM | Cause of Death: Slit in the side of his neck by a shard of glass, and died of blood loss. Only one slash.

"Commence your investigation now, you guys!" said Monokuma. "I mean, it's your life that we're talking about here!" As Monokuma laughed, he vanished in midair once again, leaving us stunned.

"Well, we aren't going to accomplish anything by standing around," said Rikiya, breaking the silence.

"Correct," Senji followed. "We must find out who did this, otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" asked Miyu.

"Come to think of it, Monokuma never told us what happened when we lose a class trial, did he?" Rin asked.

*Ding dong, ding dong!*

"Oh my, Rin, you have a good memory!" Monokuma said through the intercom. "My apologies, if you fail to finger the correct villain, instead of the perpetrator who gets to go home free, everyone else will be punished!"

"You mean death for us?" Setsuna asked.

"You got it mother! By the way, for a woman priest, do we call you father or do we call you mother? I would never now since I never went to church. Anyways, bye!"

A beep signaled the end of the announcement.

As everyone started to disband for the investigation, I didn't know what I could do. I didn't feel like I could do anything. I felt weak. I was the one who thought no one would die, yet…

Hideaki began to look at the body. I didn't know what he was doing at first, and he did the strangest things, looking at the dead body like it was just some toy.

"Hideaki, what are you doing?" I gasped. "You-you're just touching that like it's a normal thing!"

"I have experience with dead bodies," said Hideaki. "They aren't exactly hard to look at. Besides, we need to investigate this thing, and fast."

"Y-yeah…" I said. "You're right."

"You can help with my investigation, if you want," Hideaki offered. "It would be nice, to not work alone on this case…" I nodded.

"You look like you know what you're doing, so I'll just help you. I probably couldn't do anything alone, anyways." Hideaki nodded, and after a few more seconds, he beckoned me to come over.

"Look at his neck," he said. Looking at it, I noticed a deep cut wound with blood surrounding it.

"That's probably the cause of death," I said.

"It's weird though," Hideaki said. "There's only blood surrounding the neck. If he died of blood loss, it should have been likely that the blood is elsewhere as well, yet it is only surrounding his neck."

"But what good would come of cleaning the body? It's not like the amount of blood loss would affect the outcome either way."

"That's true," Hideaki sighed. "Either way, this is probably important."

:::===/NEW AMMO))

2: Wound on Neck: A large gash on the side of Akira's neck, which is most likely the cause of death. Oddly enough, there is only blood surrounding his neck.

I took a look around the room, trying to find a look at surroundings, and I noticed that the bathroom mirror was cracked, and some fragments of the mirror were on the floor.

"Hideaki, look at this," I said, calling out for him. "This is probably where the murderer got the weapon." Hideaki nodded, and wrote it down in his notepad.

:::===/NEW AMMO))

3: Cracked Mirror: The mirror is cracked, and missing a few fragments.

4: Fragments of Glass: Glass found on the floor of the bathroom. Most likely came from mirror.

"There's another weird thing about this," said Hideaki.

"You mean… there's no blood on any of these pieces."

"Yes," said Hideaki. "There most likely should've been pieces of glass with blood on them if the murderer used these fragments. Though, it's most likely that the killer took the pieces of glass to hide evidence."

"Again," I noticed, "removing a bloody piece of glass wouldn't do anything to conceal the crime. Would it?"

Hideaki shook his head. "No, if anything, the killer is trying to throw off our investigation." Hideaki placed his hand on his chin, and thought for a while before breaking the silence.

"Ayako, come with me," Hideaki said. I nodded, and followed him out the bathroom door. I will – no, we will, find out who killed Akira and restore peace to this academy! That's what I said to myself. That's what we were going to do.

Location: Female Bathroom | Time: 8:12 PM | Chapter One

"Why are we in the woman's room?" I asked. "The murder happened in the men's bathroom, didn't it?"

"I wouldn't come to that conclusion right away," Hideaki said. "Take a look at this." In his hand was a bloody piece of glass.

"Wh-what's that doing here?!" I shrieked.

:::===/NEW AMMO))

5: Bloody Glass Fragment: A bloody piece of glass. Found in the woman's restroom.

"Quickly," Hideaki said. "Look in the restroom stalls."

"Okay!"

I quickly scanned each and every stall in the restroom, but my heart really stopped when I reached the last one. I think I screamed a little, because Hideaki arrived with worry on his face, and even he had his face drained of color.

The stall was drenched in blood. Top, bottom, right and left. Everywhere was filled with blood.

:::===/NEW AMMO))

6: Bloody Stall: A stall in the woman's restroom that was drenched in blood.

"What the hell?!" I screamed. "So, so, the body was moved then?!"

"Probably," Hideaki said, returning to his old composure. "There couldn't possibly be this much blood anyways."

I looked at the stall once again. It was, impossible. This much blood? Even if Akira was murdered in the woman's room, he couldn't have spilled this much blood if his cause of death was just a slit to the neck.

"I see what you're thinking," Hideaki said, interrupting my thoughts. "I agree with you, in that case." Hideaki gently nudged me aside, and went inside the stall.

"Wait! Hideaki! Are you crazy?!"

Hideaki took a look inside the stall, and inside the toilet, he found something interesting. A war book was stuffed into the woman's toilet, and it was soggy and ruined. However, it was a war book, meaning that it probably belonged to Akira: the war genius.

:::===/NEW AMMO))

7: War Book: A book about the many wars of the world. Found in the bottom of the woman's restroom.

Hideaki looked around the stall for a few more moments, and then faced me. "I want to check out the men's room again."

"Again?" I asked. "But –"

"No time," he said. "Let's go."

Hideaki exited the woman's bathroom, leaving me to wonder what he could be talking about.

Location: Male's Bathroom | Time: 8:19 PM | Chapter One

As the two of us entered the bathroom, Hideaki immediately started scanning the stalls. As I watched him, I was disgusted to see him putting his hand in the toilet water.

"Ayako," he said. "Would you please look inside the toilets?"

"Wha?! No way!"

"Please?" he asked. "It's important."

"Ugh! Alright!"

I went to the very last stall, and stuck my hand inside the toilet. "This is so disgusting!" I said to myself. However, my eyes opened as I felt a soft object.

"Hideaki!" I called out. "I found something!"

Hideaki rushed over, and told me to show him the item I just found. When I took it out, it looked like it was a towel.

:::===/NEW AMMO))

8: Towel: Found in the bottom of one of the toilets at the male's bathroom.

"What's a towel doing down in the bottom of the toilet?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"The question is," said Hideaki. "is whether or not this towel has any relevance to the case."

While we were discussing, we noticed Saya walk into the bathroom. She didn't take any notice to us, but instead went straight to the bathroom. Megumi followed after her, and greeted us.

"Hey, you two!" Megumi said. She walked over.

"You're oddly cheerful," I said to Megumi. "I mean, someone just died, you know…"

"Yeah, sucks don't it?" sighed Megumi. "Watcha gonna do though?"

"Uh, Megumi," I asked. "You were sitting near the exit, right?"

Megumi nodded and took off her helmet. "What do you need?"

"Do you remember anyone who exited the movie during the movie? To use the bathroom or something?"

Megumi frowned, and closed her eyes. "Yup! I know each and every single one!"

Hideaki and I were both in disbelief as Megumi recited the list of people she remembered exiting the movie.

:::===/NEW AMMO))

9: List of Suspects: The following is a list of people who exited the movie theater during the movie.

Saya

Megumi

Aaron

Senji

Rikiya

Noburu

"Good thinking," Hideaki said to me. "This narrows down our suspect list considerably."

"So, you're saying that anyone else other than these six couldn't have been the murderer?"

"Remember, everyone else was in the movie theater, and they have alibis," Hideaki said. "Meaning that it would have been impossible to kill someone in the bathroom."

"That's true," I said.

"But there's also another suspect we should add to the list," Saya said from inside the stall.

"Who?" I asked.

"Me?" Hideaki said, responding to me and Saya's comments.

"What?" I stammered. "No, it couldn't be you! I know it couldn't have!"

"I'm not saying this simpleton did do it," Saya said, as she exited the stall. "I'm just saying he's a suspect. He didn't come to the movie at all, and he was the first to discover the body."

As soon as she said that, she ominously exited the bathroom, with Megumi skipping and following her trail.

"You didn't do it, did you?" I asked Hideaki.

"No, obviously," Hideaki said. "I had a bad feeling though, so I checked the movie theater. I used the bathroom, and I found Akira dead in the stall. That's all."

I nodded, and placed my hand on my forehead. I was getting a huge headache. Hideaki noticed, and looked at me with concern.

"Do you need to lie down?" he asked. I shook my head, and offered to continue the investigation.

"The most important thing right now, I think, is to see if that towel has any relevance to this case," I said. "But how could we find out – eh?"

I found Hideaki sniffing the towel, placing it close to his face.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

As soon as I said that, Hideaki closed his eyes, and fainted.

"Hideaki!" I could only imagine him as his world turned black.

Location: Infirmary | Time: 8:30 PM | Chapter One

I took Hideaki to the infirmary as he fainted. Knowing there would be no nurse, I thought it would just be best for Hideaki to lie down. Taking all the evidence we found, I managed to get a bag to place them in, hoping that wouldn't affect them in any way.

A few minutes later, Hideaki woke up and placed his hand on his forehead.

"Ow," he said, "that hurt…"

"Are you okay?" I asked. Hideaki nodded, and thanked me for taking him to the infirmary.

"Why did you sniff that towel though?!"

"Chloroform," Hideaki said. "There was definitely chloroform on that towel."

"Chloroform?" I asked. "Don't killers use that, to like, knock out their victms?

"Exactly," he said. "That towel had chloroform on it."

:::===/NEW AMMO))

Ammo update:

9: Towel: +Towel with traces of chloroform on it. Chloroform has a blue tint.

"So, the killer must have used that to knock out his victim, right?" I asked. Hideaki nodded, and went to the fridge.

"I'm thirsty," said Hideaki as he opened the fridge.

"Wait, no, that's not a fridge with drinks in it!"

As Hideaki opened the fridge, the two of us stared at the blood located in the fridge. But something wasn't right with it.

"Hideaki?" I said. "There's something strange about this."

"Other than the fact that there are packets of blood in the school?" He asked.

I nodded, and pointed at the fridge. "There were a lot more blood packets than this," I said. "Looks like maybe a quarter of what remained was taken."

Hideaki investigated a packet of blood, and spoke. "You think that this blood could have been used for the woman's stall?" he asked. I nodded.

"Probably."

:::===/NEW AMMO))

10: Packets of Blood: Blood found in the infirmary fridge has disappeared.

"Well then, let's go back to the woman's room," Hideaki said. "We might find traces of these packets there." I nodded, and followed him out the door.

Location: Woman's Bathroom | Time: 8:43 PM | Chapter One

We investigated the woman's room carefully, and we eventually found the answer we were looking for. Near the trash can, we found the plastic cases that held the blood in it.

"So, you were right," Hideaki said. "This is going to be important."

"I hope so," I said. "It feels good to contribute."

:::===/NEW AMMO))

11: Plastic Casings: These casings were found in the woman's bathroom trash can. Contained blood, but now empty.

"Before we end our investigation," Hideaki said, "I'm going to check something out."

I nodded, and followed Hideaki into the back of the movie theater.

"What are we doing here?" I said. Hideaki opened the door to a shed out back, and he found a bottle of chloroform that had spilled onto the floor.

"Chloroform," he said. "Definitely used here."

:::===/NEW AMMO))

12: Chloroform Bottle: A bottle of chloroform has spilled onto the floor. Chloroform has green tint.

"We're done here, now," Hideaki said. "I think we've investigated enough. We should get some rest before the trial." I nodded, and followed Hideaki to the dormitories.

"Hey, Hideaki," I said. Hideaki looked at me, with his usual grim expression. "When we get out of here, we're going to stay friends, alright?"

Hideaki looked at me some more, and then gave a small grin. "If you say so, it's not like I can stop you." We said goodbye to each other at Hideaki's dorm, and I went into my dorm, and lay down on my bed. I was tired. I was real tired. It was a tiring day, I mean. This investigation, all this bodies…

I just had to take a nap.

In my dream, I imagined all my friends attending the school right now, except we were at the normal Hope's Peak. We were at the real deal, and instead of a crazy madman like Monokuma being our headmaster, it was instead a wonderful, warm man. It was a wonderful dream. A dream filled with happiness. But it got cut short, when I was abruptly awoken.

I woke up to the sight of Monokuma angrily jumping on my chest.

"What! The! Heck!" I said within breaths of Monokuma jumping on me. "Can! You! Get! Off?!" I said angrily, and was careful to escape Monokuma's wrath without hurting him.

"You're late!" said Monokuma. "It's 10:00 and the class trial is about to start! How could you take a nap?!"

"S-sorry," I said, and I rushed out the dormitory. "Head to the park gazebo!" Monokuma called out, and I did as told.

I arrived at the gazebo, and saw everyone inside it, apparently waiting for me.

"Where have you been, you lazy peasant?" asked Saya.

"H-hey! It wasn't my fault!

"Then who's fault was it?" asked Saya. "Or, were you kidnapped by this madman?" she said, pointing at Monokuma. "If not, then it was deliberately your fault! Dumbass!"

"Now, now!" Monokuma said, as he was arriving, "Let's not start a cat fight girls!"

"What are we doing on the gazebo?" Aaron asked.

"Well, we're going to the class trial!" Monokuma explained. "This gazebo is actually also an elevator! Below this gazebo are our courtrooms!

"What?!"

"Yup! Let's go!"

Monokuma pulled a lever, and we all were taken down into the depths of the ground. It was time to face the killer. We needed to find the true perpetrator; otherwise, we would be killed instead.

Roger began barking as he was held in Suguru's arms. "Shh! Shh!" Suguru said to Roger.

We were falling and falling, deeper and deeper into the Earth, and eventually, we reached the courtrooms.

"Extraordinary, isn't it?" said Monokuma. "Here is where your class trial will be!" Monokuma began to laugh, and as we entered the courtroom, and even though Monokuma's laugh seemed to be piercing me, I realized I was brimming with confidence. It's sort of weird to say that, but if someone truly did murder Akira, I wanted to find out whom. I wanted to confront them. I knew I could do it. I know I can do it. It was time to start.

The class trial to live or the class trial to die!

Continued in Chapter One: Class Trial

===MONOKUMA THEATRE===

#4

Monokuma: I've never gotten the point of why babies can't ever be portrayed as getting injured.

Monokuma: You know, in a good physical comedy, I can't believe why we never see babies getting any action!

Monokuma: Babies are people too, Hollywood! This discrimination is not fair!

Monokuma: I should make a movie: "Babies Falling Down: London Bridge." I'd watch it!


End file.
